I received the following e-mail from the great people at ASA — San Diego. It seems that the Obama DOJ memo is only worth its weight in toilet paper:

San Diego, CA — Federal agents raided at least three San Diego-area medical marijuana dispensaries today in the early morning hours. Sources say that Green Kross, Unified Collective, and Kush Lounge were all served federal search warrants and were subjected to aggressive SWAT-style raids which resulted in the arrest of as many as 12 people and the seizure of money, medical marijuana and patient records. These raids come as the City of San Diego is deliberating an ordinance to regulate the local distribution of medical marijuana.

“The patient community is outraged by these actions and demands answers,” said Eugene Davidovich of the local San Diego chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country’s leading medical marijuana advocacy group. “Why is the federal government attempting to undermine our local efforts to regulate?” A recent San Diego Grand Jury encouraged local governments to follow through on implementing state law by regulating medical marijuana distribution facilities that provide needed medicine to patients throughout the county. Both the City and County of San Diego are on the verge of approving regulatory ordinances.

Several federal raids have occurred in San Diego over the past few years, typically with the cooperation of local law enforcement and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. The latest raids happened in September 2009 under the multi-agency effort called “Operation Green Rx.” Despite the confidence of Dumanis in prosecuting state cases against local dispensary operators, one of them being Davidovich, they have only resulted in jury acquittals. “Despite a failure to win convictions in state court, Dumanis continues to aggressively enforce and prosecute groundless medical marijuana cases,” continued Davidovich.

In October 2009, one month after raids were conducted on more than a dozen medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego, the Justice Department issued a new policy aimed at deemphasizing federal enforcement in medical marijuana states. Nonetheless, the Justice Department has continued to take action in California and other medical marijuana states, with San Diego dispensaries being the latest targets. In addition, the first federal trial of a medical marijuana provider under the Obama Administration is due to take place in the next few weeks. San Diego dispensary operator James Stacy was raided in the same September 2009 raid, but is being federally prosecuted. He is currently trying to mount an entrapment and medical use defense, something routinely denied federal medical marijuana defendants due to court rules that favor the prosecution.

“These raids underscore the importance of developing a comprehensive federal policy on medical marijuana, which will also allow states to care for the health and welfare of their people without unnecessary federal interference,” said ASA Government Affairs Director Caren Woodson. “It is not the purview of the federal government to enforce local or state laws.”

About Johnny Green

Johnny Green is a marijuana activist from Oregon. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Public Policy. Follow Johnny Green on Facebook and Twitter. Also, feel free to email any concerns.

jackattack

the DEA is fighting to keep relevant and protect their jobs. no right or wrong its all about greed and money. we have no freedom in america because of the drug war or war on americans. the government should not be able to force their views on individual states. remember in the constitution it refers to states rights to make their own decisions. the only time the feds can usurp state authority is in time of war. our government is totally corrupt and self serving. I am ashamed to be born in america. we are going down the tubes like all previous empires,great britain,persia,ussr,greece,roman empires. about 200 years and it all takes a shit.

this is just terrible, these raids on non-violent “offenders” are just ridiculous. the government needs to just stop. its BULLSHIT

http://budreviews.com Bud Reviews

As a San Diego native, seeing this is sad. Until a full report is posted, which I feel is unlikely, judging this situation is impossible. But, from the cover, it just seems wrong. For example, Unified Collective operated under strict security and appeared to be quite organized. They also had good quality control. This was the same case with the Downtown Kush Lounge, and most likely Green Kross.

Federally, marijuana is still illegal. It is illegal under false pretenses, but unfortunately laws must be followed or else legitimate laws lose their value as well. I hope this mess is sorted out soon, perhaps with the legalization of medical marijuana.

johnny

We live in a police state. FBI raids continued all weekend in north Ca and So CAl

Patients are not even safe , FBI is raiding anyone affiliated with these storefronts

The CA narcotics officers are the ones who held a luncheon about a yr ago titled “eradication of medical marijuana dispensary’s” and started a all out ware on these storefronts.

And Obama and holder said the raids would stop.

so much for safe and affordable accesss

Joey Chitwood

They raided the places because the money used from the sale of medicine went to purchase two homes, one of them 2 millions dollars in value, BMW’s, etc. Not too sure you can use the money from a non profit to purchase a phat ass house in Rancho Sante Fe, LOL! Pimpin’ like that without paying taxes will get you noticed by Uncle Sam sooner or later.

Burns D, House

I am morally outraged and discusted with all this concern over pot….”To smoke pot or not” is not the question, but the base desire of man to get laid….and this is a staunch christian nation that wud rather that we all be gay, so pot is our true salvation and savior…………………. POT = Potential of Testicles